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KUSP LandWatch
News
Week of October 23, 2006 to October 27, 2006
Week of October 23, 2006 to October 27, 2006
KUSP provided a brief Land Use Report on KUSP Radio from January 2003 to May 2016. Archives of past transcripts are available here.
Week of October 23, 2006 to October 27, 2006
- Monday, October 23, 2006
The Housing Element in Santa Cruz County
- Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Here’s The Latest on Rancho San Juan
- Wednesday, October 25, 2006
New Urbanism Comes To Salinas
- Thursday, October 26, 2006
Something Is Happening in San Miguel
- Friday, October 27, 2006
Sewers and Soledad
The following Land Use Reports have been presented on KUSP Radio by Gary A. Patton. The Wittwer & Parkin law firm is located in Santa Cruz, California, and practices environmental and governmental law. As part of its practice, the law firm files litigation and takes other action on behalf of its clients, which are typically private individuals, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, or community groups. Whenever the Land Use Report comments on an issue with which the Wittwer & Parkin law firm is involved on behalf of a client, Mr. Patton will make this relationship clear, as part of his commentary. Mr. Patton’s comments do not represent the views of Wittwer & Parkin, LLP, KUSP Radio, nor of any of its sponsors.
| Monday, October 23, 2006 The Housing Element in Santa Cruz County |
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Tomorrow, when the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meets, hot tubs and swimming pool enclosures will be on the agenda. These matters are not, actually, trivial issues, from a land use regulation point of view, and if you happen to live in the unincorporated part of Santa Cruz County, and have a hot tub or swimming pool, you might want to check this item out. An item of significantly more importance for most of us is the Board’s consideration of an amendment to the Housing Element of the Santa Cruz County General Plan. That’s on tomorrow’s agenda, too. The Housing Element of the General Plan is unique in that the “final word” on the Housing Element is not actually given to the local government (as is the case with respect to every other element of the General Plan) but to the State Department of Housing and Community Development. Santa Cruz County has been trying to get HCD to “certify” its Housing Element for several years. Tomorrow, they’re going to give it another go. The key issues are whether or not the County has designated enough land for affordable housing, and whether development of that land will be “by right,” which means that only limited public review is permitted. A lawsuit by California Rural Legal Assistance raised that concern. To find out more about the intricacies of Housing Element law, or to check out the swimming pool enclosure item, see below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Tuesday, October 24, 2006 Here’s The Latest on Rancho San Juan |
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This afternoon, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will take up agenda item S-7, relating to Rancho San Juan. Monterey County doesn’t make its agenda materials available online, so it’s a little difficult to tell exactly what’s happening. However, it appears that the Board is planning to extend a kind of “moratorium” on development in the Rancho San Juan area, to give the public some assurance that massive development is not going to occur (or, at least not right away). If you are a frequent listener to these Land Use Reports, you’ll know that the development of Rancho San Juan, just north of Salinas on Highway 101, would be the biggest development project in the history of Monterey County. The EIR process made clear that Rancho San Juan would have a significant impact on North County water supplies, and would practically gridlock Highway 101. CALTRANS, in fact, has sued the County because of their concern about traffic. Two referendum petitions have qualified for the ballot, and one referendum election was actually held. The project “lost” by about 70%, as I remember. The Board is doing everything it can to prevent a second vote by the people, and agenda item S-7 seems to be part of a strategy to “wait out” current challenges until the pro-development General Plan now under consideration by the Board can take effect, and these challenges can then be brushed off. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Wednesday, October 25, 2006 New Urbanism Comes To Salinas |
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Once in a while there’s some good news on the land use front, and I’m happy to say that recent actions in Salinas do seem to be pretty good news. Several years ago, when Salinas adopted a new General Plan, there were three major areas of policy discussion: first, how much agricultural land should the city annex, for the purpose of more urban development? Second, should the city’s affordable housing ordinance be strengthened? Third, should the city incorporate “new urbanism” principles into its General Plan? Well, the City Council adopted the “big growth” model, and is proposing to annex and develop over 3,000 acres of agricultural lands, turning those lands into subdivisions and shopping centers. It recently watered down its affordable housing ordinance, so that affordable units won’t remain affordable over time, but will be sold by their lower income owners to give those particular owners an economic boost (but with the unfortunate result that the unit will go from an “affordable” to a “non-affordable” category). Finally, and this is the good news, “new urbanism” principles were placed into the General Plan, and because they were, the City Council has now changed its zoning code. Most new development in Salinas, at least on all those newly-annexed lands, will be better planned and designed. You can get more information below . For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Thursday, October 26, 2006 Something Is Happening in San Miguel |
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I almost always place links to interesting and important information in the written transcripts of these Land Use Reports. If you’re ever interested in following up on one of the items I mention, or would like to send me a comment or suggestion, just click on the Land Use Report link on the KUSP website. Current and past transcripts are available there. In the transcript for today’s Land Use Report, I refer you to a website maintained by a group called “S.M.A.R.T.” SMART is comprised of residents, property owners, farmers, and ranchers that are taking interest in development issues in and around San Miguel. San Miguel is located in San Luis Obispo County, just a bit north of Paso Robles. Paso Robles is a fast-growing community, which means that developers and landowners (sometimes properly identified as “speculators”) like the idea of getting three votes on the Board of Supervisors to turn the relatively inexpensive agricultural land in the San Miguel area into land worth at least ten times more, when designated for urban development. In fact, there is such a proposal in the wings, sponsored by a Southern California developer/speculator, Brent Grizzle of Grizzle Land and Development Corporation. Check out the SMART website for more information, and tune in to KUSP’s “SLO County Report,” too, to keep up with the latest on what’s going on. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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| Friday, October 27, 2006 Sewers and Soledad |
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Soledad, whose motto is “Feel the Momentum,” intends to grow 50% in the next five years. That’s a growth rate of 10% per year. Achieving that would surely make Soledad one of the fastest-growing communities in the state. Greenfield, just to the south, posted a 15% annual growth rate, during calendar year 2005. When growth proceeds at such speeds, the character the existing community is put at risk, and in the case of Greenfield and Soledad, located in the heart of the Salinas Valley, the future of agriculture is also put into question. Soledad actually grew by only 3% during 2005, and in order for Soledad to keep up its “momentum,” and to reach a growth rate of 10% per year, it needs to have the infrastructure to support all those new subdivisions. One vital piece of infrastructure is sewage capacity, and the City of Soledad is coming up short. In order to hasten its ability to serve new development, the City has asked the state to let it buy an old sewer plant previously used by the state prison. Senate Bill 276, by State Senator Jeff Denham, would have allowed that. In bad news for Soledad (but maybe good news for farmland preservation), Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed that bill last month. There is more information below. For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.
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Archives of past transcripts are available here
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